Dakhal Do [Intervene]
"When you intervene you make the person feel that they are not alone. Are you an active bystander?"
Launched in December 2020, Dakhal Do is a campaign to promote bystander intervention to stop acts of violence against women and girls in India's private and public spaces. Breakthrough India, an organisation seeking to make violence and discrimination against women and girls unacceptable, created the multi-year initiative to inspire young people between the ages of 18 and 25 to call out acts of violence in their own lives or in spaces they move in throughout Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, or Delhi. Dakhal Do aims to raise awareness on how bystanders can become agents of change rather than just spectators.
Breakthrough India is using popular culture and social media as tools to raise awareness and empower bystanders to recognise unhealthy and problematic behaviours and intervene before abuse or assault takes place. The organisation joined hands with Bollywood actor Rajkummar Rao to take the campaign to the masses through his own social media postings. In addition, RJ Sayema, a radio jockey with Radio Mirchi, joined on to offer 5 winners of the #DakhalDo contest a handcrafted mirror signed by her. Open to those between the ages of 18 and 25, participants are asked to share their video stories through WhatsApp, stating how they intervened and prevented a potentially violent incident.
A related use of social media platforms to connect with people and mobilise support for the campaign is the "Mirror Selfie Pledge" challenge, encouraging people to take a photo of themselves looking in a mirror and then to use this caption to post it on social media: "#DakhalDo kyunki dakhal dene se hinsa ruk jaaye, toh dakhal andaazi achhi hai. Let's hold up a mirror to ourselves every time we see violence against women and pledge to not walk away the next time! Join @INBreakthrough's campaign today." People are asked to post it on their social media handles, tagging Breakthrough plus 5 friends and using the hashtag #DakhalDo in their caption.
Violence against Women
According to the National Crime Record Bureau report of 2018 (NCRB), nearly 3.78 lakh cases of crime against women were reported across the country.
Commenting on the collaboration, Rajkummar Rao said, "I have observed that most people act or raise their voice only when physical violence occurs. But there is no understanding around the fact that violence exists in different forms and shapes such as emotional, mental, and financial. This needs to change. There needs to be a continuous discussion and sensitization on the various forms of abuse and their impact on women. This is a conversation that is still happening in limited spaces and we need everyone's support to take it to a larger number of people across the country. I believe that violence against women and girls is everyone's problem and we need to speak up, stop and intervene."
The Logical Indian is Breakthrough's digital partner in disseminating the videos made as part of Dakhal Do.
Emails from Sohini Bhattacharya and Barsha Chakraborty to The Communication Initiative on December 30 2020 and January 8 2021, respectively; and Breakthrough India website and "Rajkumar Rao joins hands with Breakthrough India's 'Dakhal Do' campaign", dailyhunt, December 28 2020 - both accessed on January 7 2021.